The first change is the most notable -- and probably the most controversial.

After initially saying that customers no longer were using the Start Button and thus it was gone for good, Microsoft took note of the noisy outcry surrounding this topic and changed its mind, allowing the Start Button to make a comeback in Windows 8.1.

...well, sort of. Instead of the traditional Start Button, which pops up a menu of apps (on the same screen) in Desktop Mode, the new "Start Button" yanks you out of Desktop Mode and drops you onto your "Modern UI" (aka "Metro") Home Page.

It's clear that this won't be the Start Button many Windows traditionalists were hoping for. But it does allow faster transitions to the Modern UI, for better or worse.

Microsoft has a full guide on the other new features here, and a Faq on Windows 8.1 Preview here. Microsoft warns that some systems with 32-bit Intel Corp. (INTC) Atom processors will need to update their drivers before running Windows 8.1.

To get the update itself, go to the Preview page, which will install the necessary updates, then take you to a download link in Windows Store for the main installer.

Microsoft's annual BUILD Conference for developers is kicking off today and runs through June 28.

what ever you say man but the effect is the same. See through with texturing ... may not be full w7 blur, but good enough for me ! The original w8 framing is dull and horrible, looking like windows 98. Btw no one as done it in W8 before.

Plain transparency doesn't work very well with text unless the transparency is very minimal. After that, it blends in too much with the background. I enjoyed setting the transparency in aero glass almost all the way down - nearly completely transparent, and it looked amazing. This is not even remotely doable with alpha blended transparency. If you do not apply special effects like the blur, the background and foreground layers become indistinguishable and text is unreadable.

Go try bigmuscle's mod and you'll see the difference between it and the junk that stardock released is not even on the same playing field.

inighthawki, who care how it is done ? bigmuscle snitzel or not, just try it out (30 days trial). The framing is beautiful and light years nicer then what you get with windows 8. Basically I have jumb to w8 because, with third party start buttons and windowblind, it looks more like w7. I don't ever have to deal with modern ui idiocy but enjoy the improvements of the w8 desktop. I certainly won't move to 8.1 if I cannot do that anymore.

Why would I waste my time installing a third party app that probably sits open and installs a service on my pc which will then cost money after a free trial when I can just run the patch and get full aero glass (native running inside DWM, with full hardware acceleration) and then install any theme I want on top?

Because I look at bigmuscle project. He is just a hacker. It was more an experiment. It is buggy, was never release and no install/interface available. It will cost money if ever does get released. Now that will bring only aero look but you will have to chase your themes and hacked windows to get them installed. There is nothing there for the regular joblo here who want a turn key solution and a "setup.exe" which WBlind bring. At least you will get support and update after.